Indian Premier League 2011
2011 · 10 teams · T20 cricket
Tournament Overview
Series Overview
The 2011 Indian Premier League — Season 4 — was the first expanded edition with 10 franchises, introducing Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. It was also the first time any franchise had won back-to-back IPL titles. Chennai Super Kings, under the unflappable MS Dhoni, were simply the best team in the tournament — again. Their batting depth, led by Dhoni himself and Suresh Raina, was complemented by a bowling attack featuring Dwayne Bravo, Doug Bollinger, and R. Ashwin at their collective best. Their opponents in the final at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium — CSK's home in Chennai — were Royal Challengers Bangalore, who had ridden a season of extraordinary batting fireworks, led by Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. Gayle had been the tournament's dominant batsman, smashing 608 runs at a strike rate that made T20 bowlers reconsider their career choices. Yet in the final, it was CSK who produced the performance. They posted a commanding total and then bowled RCB out for 147 — winning by 58 runs in front of their home crowd. The tournament itself had planted the seeds of change: Deccan Chargers were a franchise in decline, soon to be replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad, while the two new entrants would last just one or two seasons before franchise instability ended their runs.
Key Highlights
- 1CSK won back-to-back IPL titles — the first franchise to retain the championship
- 2Chris Gayle became the most destructive T20 opener in the world, winning the Orange Cap with 608 runs
- 3The final was played at CSK's home ground in Chennai — they crushed RCB by 58 runs to complete the double
- 4IPL expanded to 10 teams for the first time with Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India
- 5MS Dhoni's captaincy was cool and calculating throughout — CSK's fielding and death bowling set the standard